Oct. 14, 2006

Recap | Final Stats | Notes |

<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Oklahoma State 42, Kansas 32<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

October 14, 2006 – Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, Kan.

Head Coach Mark Mangino

On the second half:

“The number one problem is that we made some plays in the secondary in the first half, especially Aquib Talib, but we knew as coaches that there were some people open. We had to get some people covered up before OklahomaState found out about it. Apparently, we didn’t do a good enough job of that, and OklahomaState did a good job of finding the holes. They made some plays, and we played very, very poorly in pass defense. Talib made plays, but he is 1/11^th of the unit. We need a little more than that.”

On OSU wide receiver Adarius Bowman:

“I have to give credit to the quarterback for getting him the ball. (Bowman) made plays, and we could barely contest him. We didn’t go play the ball. I am really disappointed in the zone play. He ended up with 300 yards today – he gets my vote for the Heisman.”

On Kerry Meier:

“It was a pretty good day for him. No question that he made some good plays. He made some mistakes, but I’ll be honest with you, we got some points on the board. Kerry played well enough for us to win the game, we just didn’t take care of business.”

On Jake Sharp:

“Jon (Cornish) just couldn’t go, and Jake came in there and made a couple of nice plays. He added fresh legs, which was a key factor late in the game, and that was an encouraging sign. We are glad to see that.”

Junior Wide Receiver Marcus Henry

On the game:

“We are upset. We have got to come out playing hard and practicing hard next week. I think that we came out and wanted to put more points on the board, but OklahomaState just played better.”

On Kerry Meier:

“During practice, we just worked on our routes and timing – getting everything in sync. I guess he feels comfortable throwing to me.”

On losing three straight:

“It is frustrating, but we know what we have to do. We know we can win the rest of our games. We need to go into practice next week and practice the same way we have been practicing, and just execute on game day.”

Senior Center David Ochoa

On giving up tackles for losses:

“Those are situations that put us in second-and-long. It really took us out of rhythm.”

On Kerry Meier:

“He did very well. He made the checks he needed to make. He ran the ball really well. He did everything he needed to do as a quarterback to be successful on offense.”

On the game:

“We didn’t play a perfect game (on offense.) Any time (OSU’s) offense scores more than our offense, it is a loss for us. We just didn’t do the things that we needed to do to score points. We didn’t sustain drives. I am totally optimistic. We will look at tomorrow’s film and see what we need to do better, and correct that.”

Freshman Running Back Jake Sharp

On backing up Jon Cornish:

“The coaches all feel that Brandon McAnderson and I can step in at any time when necessary and do a good job, and that is what we hope to accomplish. I am just trying to help the team out. It is a team effort. I would definitely rather not be in there than not have a victory.”

“We are going to work hard, and we are going to come back.”

On the morale of the team:

“We just need to come out and work every day. We just need to come out and give everything we have on the practice field. Things are going to work out for us. We just need to keep pushing.”

Freshman Quarterback Kerry Meier

On his first game back from injury:

“Overall, some of the things I did in the first three games, I think that I overcame those. I have learned from them, and I executed this time. This was not the result you want, but that’s football. We are going to rebound, come back, and play next week.”

On changes in momentum after KU’s two-point conversion:

“I feel like we got the momentum in our favor. That will happen after a two-point conversion. You have to figure that the momentum was with us, and I thought it was.”

Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy

On the game:

“I told them at halftime that our defense had some letdowns early in the game. They came back to rally at the end of the first half so we felt like we had a good chance to stop them (in the second half). They do a great job in mixing up the play calling but our guys were playing hard. Offensively, we were sputtering around in the first quarter then we started to get on a roll. Coach Fedora made some nice adjustments at halftime and had a lot of success in the second half.”

On wide receiver Adarius Bowman:

“He has the opportunity to make a lot of big plays because he has great balance and is a very competitive athlete. Since we have a player like him, he gives us a chance to look a lot different on offense.”

On the onside kick:

“We needed a little lift there. We had made a nice play and scored. You have to take chances in order to get your team to believe you’re trying to win games. That’s the way we like to play. It was something that was planned and Bruce Redden gives you that option because he used to be a soccer player and has great control of the ball when he kicks it. He’s very limber and flexible and did a good job of getting down on the ball.”

Junior defense end Nathan Peterson

On the game:

“KU is a great team. It’s a team that went to Nebraska and could have won the game and they had a tough loss last week where they should have won the game against A&M. They are a very capable team and to see the way our offense played in the second half and the way our defense played was huge. There are still some things we have to fix on both sides of the ball. We have to get started faster and we have to be able to finish even better on defense at the end of the game.”

On Kansas’ first uthree scores:

“We have to be able to stop them. We knew they weren’t going to be able to drive down the length of the field on us. At halftime we were extremely confident. It was almost like we were winning.”

Sophomore quarterback Bobby Reid

On the play calling in the second half:

“Coach Fedora’s job when he was brought in was to help us throw the ball. He’s always wanted to throw the ball and we got what we wanted.”

On the turning point of the game:

“I think it was the onside kick, but for me personally I think it was when we got into the end zone the first time. Things weren’t clicking for us in the first half. We came in at halftime and guys said we’ve been in this position before, let’s go out and perform. In the first half things just weren’t clicking. The defense was doing a good job keeping us in the game. They only scored twice on us, but we had our backs against the wall.”

On breaking the school’s single game yardage record:

“Once we got in the end zone the first time things just started opening up even wider for me. We owe that to working hard during the week and coaches letting us do what we do.”